An appeals court had previously denied ex-President Donald Trump’s request to block questioning of his former deputy. Pence himself had agreed to testify in early April after a judge ordered him to do so.
The US Department of Justice had appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate the matter. Radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to prevent the formal certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
Pence, in his role as Senate President, chaired the House session to confirm Biden’s election victory that day. Trump had repeatedly called on his vice president to stop confirming the outcome of the election. Pence refused at the time, saying he didn’t have the authority to do so.
The attack on the Capitol with five fatalities shook the USA and is considered a black day in the history of US democracy. Trump had previously spread the false claim for weeks that he had been deprived of a second term through massive election fraud. Shortly before the Capitol was stormed, the right-wing populist called on his supporters in a speech to march to the Capitol and fight “whatever the hell”.
Special Counsel Smith is not only examining Trump’s possible criminal responsibility for the attack on the Capitol. He also deals with numerous secret documents that Trump took from the White House to his private estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, at the end of his term in office.
In a separate trial, Trump was the first ex-president in US history to be indicted at the end of March for paying hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Despite his many legal difficulties in the 2024 presidential election, Trump wants to retake the White House. Pence is considered a potential rival in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. However, the 63-year-old arch-conservative politician has not yet announced an application.
